Urban Crops launches pilot program in Waregem

Urban Crops recently launched in Waregem. It is a pilot program displaying a technology to help grow vegetables indoor, on multiple layers.

Convince investor

Urban Crops hopes its pilot project in Waregem can convince investors to use the technology on a larger scale. The project, the brain child of Maarten Vandercruys, will also investigate new technologies.

The so-called vertical farm is fully automated and does not need sunlight. The plants will grow thanks to the addition of led lighting, which helps the plants develop faster and lowers their need for water.

Urban Crops’ current farm has 448 cultivation trays, with 10 crops spread over 8 layers. This results in 442 crops that can be harvested per day. However, if the scale is enlarged, this particular facility can house 225,000 cultivation trays, spread over 30 cultivation towers with 18 layers each. That means 126,000 crops could be harvested every day, according to groentennieuws.nl.

The main advantage is that this can be built anywhere, even in locations with insufficient amounts of water and food. “We can place the containers in the desert or in refugee camps, maybe even on Mars. That would be our ultimate dream”, co-founder Frederik Bulcaen told Het Nieuwsblad.